So for the example about previous/next month -- my first thought was the Chinese way of speaking/thinking of the terms: 上月 for previous month (the characters are literally up/top month) and 下月 for next month (literal "down month"). I don't really think of it as directional but how it was taught to me as a child, or listening to other Cantonese speakers say it.

For me, using Chinese or English thought process is probably determined by context or environment. If I'm writing about time, I'll usually say or think I'm looking "forward" to next month or "back" to some event, etc but never think of the up/down relationship used in Chinese.